Wordsmiths

Having left our camera cable in Romania, we got a little behind on posting pictures. Now that we’ve moved in to our apartment in San Francisco and found the local Radio Shack, we have the technology for a little time travel. Behold:

The palace at Knossos, near Iraklio, Crete. (Or as the locals say, Creta.)

Leading to the exit of the ruins.

There wasn’t a whole lot of pretty in Iraklio, but there were some nice views of the sea.

View from the Hotel Sappho in Mytilini, Lesvos.

Same view, during the day.

A street in Mytilini.

Skala Eresou, where Sappho spent much of her life.

Sunset in Skala Eresou.

More Skala Eresou.

This is when Anna tried to break into the castle at Mytilini, because it was closed.

Our epic road trip has almost come to an end. We have one more day of driving; Google tells us it will take 8 hours and 44 minutes, which, if experience serves, means it will take 12 hours. Today will take us about 140 miles out of the way, since for some reason we can’t go straight through Death Valley. Instead, we’ll go through Bakersfield! That’s kind of the same thing, right?

Some highlights from yesterday:

What? They have a veggie burger.

We saw dinosaurs. Not only are we traveling through the southwest, we are also traveling through TIME.

Here’s the close-up:

We stopped in Flagstaff, AZ to get our oil changed at Jiffy Lube and have vegan biscuits and gravy at Macy’s. A view of the San Francisco Peaks just north of town:

The sunsets in the southwest are possibly the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Illinois has nothing on you, Arizona.

When passing from Arizona into Nevada, we were stopped by a border patrol wanting to look inside our truck for firearms and drugs. We were told to take off the tarp (which would mean untying about seventeen knots) and wait for the officer to check through our belongings, but he let us off with only a quick check under one of the flaps, revealing a suitcase which he did not open. Guess we have an innocent look.

Hoover Dam!

Shortly after the dam, we saw the bright lights of Las Vegas!

Thanks to Brett, whom I met at a stage combat workshop a few years ago, we got to stay in a lovely room painted to look like a cake:

Despite our ever-flapping tarp, the drive from Oklahoma to New Mexico was much more pleasant (no rain!) than the day before. I marveled at the scenery:

…and Anna vogued while driving.

We were excited to see a REAL Indian at a rest stop near Oklahoma City:

Well, ok, it wasn’t a real Indian. But the sign behind this 20-foot tall statue enlightened us as to how Indians must feel about spirituality and patriotism:

For those of you who can’t read Cherokee, the sign says “IN GOD WE TRUST. GOD BLESS AMERICA.”

And speaking of God, did you know that the nation’s largest cross is located in Groom, Texas? It is:

The people you see at the bottom of the picture are life-size statues. So yes, this is a large cross. And along with the main attractions and the 14 stations of the cross, there was a little memorial for the innocent victims of abortion. How sweet:

I looked and looked, but didn’t find where they put up the memorial for all of the victims of wars fought in the name of Christianity. Hm. I bet that part’s under construction or something; they couldn’t have forgotten it, could they?

They certainly did not forget the gift shop:

That’s right. Jesus Brand Jam.

What better way to end our little pit stop at Jesusland than a big gay kiss?